Britain | John Major

The end is nigh

How did the triumphant winner of the 1992 election become the disregarded underdog of 1997?

|

WHICH is the real John Major? Is he the John Major whom much of the public thinks it knows: boring, panicky and weak? Or is he the John Major whom his few but staunch fans discern: not so nice but cleverer, braver and more resilient than his public image, his chief problem that he leads a party which has taken leave of its senses? In short, is Mr Major's plight his own fault?

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The end is nigh”

Saddam's last victory

From the March 22nd 1997 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

British MPs vote in favour of assisted dying

A monumental social reform is closer to being realised

This illustration depicts Keith Starmer and Rachel Reeves set against a background of UK, US, and Chinese flag elements.

The slow death of a Labour buzzword

And what that says about Britain’s place in the world



Britain’s Supreme Court considers what a woman is

At last. Britons had been wondering what those 34m people who are not men might be

Can potholes fuel populism?

A new paper looks at one explanation for the rise of Reform UK

Are British voters as clueless as Labour’s intelligentsia thinks? 

How the idea of false consciousness conquered the governing party